Men's Track and Field Takes Part in Final Home Meet
CRETE, Neb. – Doane men's track and field turned in a strong home performance at the Fred Beile Classic on Saturday inside Fuhrer Field House, highlighted by victories on the track, a sweep of the top two spots in the heptathlon, and multiple NAIA "B" standard marks across sprints, jumps and throws.
On the track, the Tigers got a pair of first-place finishes from the quarter-mile group. Caleb Mulder won the 400 meters in 50.62, while Emmanuel Yego claimed the 600 meters in 1:24.55. Doane also stacked the 400 with Jonathan Zoubek placing second (51.49) and freshman Lincoln Konrad taking fourth (52.04), while the 600 featured a wave of Tigers right behind Yego, led by Lucas Gautier in third (1:26.13) and Avyan Correa in fourth (1:26.17).
Doane's speed was evident early in the meet as Connor Bradley placed second in the 60-meter finals at 6.97 after running 7.06 in prelims. Rian Green also advanced to the final and finished fourth (7.21) following a 7.24 in the heats.
In the hurdles, Doane produced a 2-3 finish in the 60 hurdles finals with Tommy Smith taking second in 8.31 and Bladen Garcia third in 8.60. Smith's day began with an 8.41 in prelims, while Garcia clocked 8.51 to qualify, and Carter Niles added a sixth-place finish in the final (8.85).
The Tigers' distance group delivered a statement in the 3,000 meters, where Alvin Keter won the event in 8:54.01 and Chance Mock placed sixth (9:39.67). Doane also picked up a podium finish in the mile as Cody Smith ran 4:38.68 for third, and Kasen York posted a solid 2:07.40 in the 800 meters.
In the field, Doane's top highlight came in the high jump, where Andrew Harms cleared 2.04m (6-8.25) to win the event and hit an NAIA B mark. The Tigers also posted three more jumpers at 1.99m (6-6.25) with Presston Duryea, Jackson Kessler, and Peyton Herrick all tying for second. On the runway, Harms doubled back to take second in the long jump with a best of 6.89m (22-7.25), while Michael Willey placed third (6.75m/22-1.75) and Asher Watson fifth (6.64m/21-9.5).
Doane's horizontal jumps were just as productive in the triple jump, led by Brian Cech winning with a 14.37m (47-1.75) leap. Callan McKinney followed in third (14.01m/45-11.75), and Mason Bahm was fourth (13.97m/45-10).
In the pole vault, Roe Patton delivered a runner-up finish after clearing 4.40m (14-5.25), and Ashton Pulliam added fifth at 4.25m (13-11.25).
The throws group continued to pile up quality marks, especially in the seeded competitions. In the seeded shot put, Andrew Schmitz and Cale Bessler finished 1-2 with matching bests of 16.02m (52-6.75)—both NAIA B standards—while Christopher Brown was fourth (15.80m/51-10) and Tad Dimmitt fifth (15.39m/50-6). In the seeded weight throw, Schmitz won again with 17.90m (58-8.75)—another NAIA B mark—while Jaden Vollenweider placed second (17.50m/57-5, NAIA B) and Brown was fifth (17.31m/56-9.5). In the open weight throw, Colton Dillon led Doane with a runner-up finish at 16.57m (54-4.5).
Doane also opened the multi-events in a big way as the Tigers went 1-2 in the heptathlon, with Addison Croghan winning the title at 4,792 points and Tysen Fleischman placing second with 4,126.
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